DHAKA: World cricket’s most exciting rivalry will once again be renewed when India face Pakistan with pacer Mohammad Amir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 here on Saturday.

The match will also serve as a precursor to the two teams’ opening round battle in the ICC World T20, next month.

The Indo-Pak cricket contests over the years have carried a legacy, not to forget the political undercurrents involved whenever the two bitter neighbours square off on the 22 yards.

Recuperating Dhoni misses training

The most exciting aspect however will be Amir getting into action.

Back after serving a five-year ban for spot-fixing, the left-armer has started playing for the national team since the tour of New Zealand and the talented bowler will certainly come out all guns blazing against the Indian batsmen.

Indian captain M.S. Dhoni and veteran pacer Ashish Nehra on Friday did not come for pre-match day training after being advised rest.

While Dhoni is suffering from back spasms, the injury-prone Nehra has his own specific training programme, different from the general team routine.

Dhoni had played through pain against Bangladesh but back spasms need adequate recovery time, which is specifically the reason he has been given 48 hours to recuperate before the Pakistan match. In case Dhoni decides to skip, there is Parthiv Patel as cover.

Both teams have been suitably prepared considering the number of T20s they have played in the past one month.

India already started their World T20 preparations in style, having won six out of the seven games played so far.

Pakistan cricketers, on the other hand, are coming straight after playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which keeps them well prepared.

Traditionally, India have never ever lost to Pakistan in the global events but it has not been the case in the continental showpiece where Shahid Afridi and company have performed well.

However, the Asia Cup has never been played in the T20 format, which is also a first.

The two teams met exactly a year and 11 days back in Adelaide during the 50-over World Cup game which India won by 76 runs.

Post World Cup, the proposed series on a neutral venue never happened as the BCCI did not get approval from the Indian government.

On field, the Indian team is peaking at the right time. The emergence of Hardik Pandya as a batting all-rounder, who can bowl seam-up, has given the side the required balance.

Over the years, Pakistan teams have touched highs and lows in a space of few matches on numerous occasions. On paper and form, the Indian team definitely hold an edge but Pakistan continue to remain an unpredictable side would certainly be an understatement.

For India, there hasn’t been much place for experiments with the playing XI. Rohit Sharma has emerged as the next big match-winner after Virat Kohli in shorter formats. Shikhar Dhawan can be inconsistent but, on his day, he can murder any bowling attack.

Pakistan opening pair is likely to be Mohammad Hafeez and Sharjeel Khan, who just had a good PSL scoring 299 runs for his franchise Islamabad United.

There is no denying Umar Akmal’s talent but the right-hander, who used to be once considered at par with Virat Kohli, has fallen way behind in the race. However, Umar’s 355 runs for Lahore Qalanders in the PSL will give him confidence.

When it comes to a match against Pakistan, Kohli invariably raises his game and has played some superlative knocks on big occasions. Having not scored too many against Bangladesh, the Indian vice-captain would be itching to hit it big against the arch-rivals.

Coming to the captains, Dhoni’s dependability is any day more than his counterpart Shahid Afridi, who has time and again shown “natural ability” to commit hara-kiri at crucial junctures.

In the middle-order Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina are also bigger match-winners than Shoaib Malik and inexperienced Khurram Manzoor. Yuvraj, however, needs a significant innings which will certainly bolster his confidence.

In the spin bowling department, Afridi will bowl his fast leg-breaks but the Indians have played him well in the past without much difficulty.

Ravichandran Ashwin is one bowler that Pakistanis did not negotiate well in the past. With the accurate Ravindra Jadeja for company, they would form a better pair than Afridi’s combination with left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz, fresh from his 13 PSL wickets.

Squads:

INDIA: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh.

PAKISTAN: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz, Anwar Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016